gateworldcantinafandomcom-20200214-history
Moderator Evolution
Moderator Evolution is the series of gradual changes that the species known as Moderator (Mod-Erators) has undergone to arrive at its current forum. The Mitochondrial Mod (Min-Erators) is the earliest known form of the species, from which all present-day Moderator's makeup can be traced. Mitochondrial Mod The earliest known evolution of the special Moderator is Min-Erators, whose remains were unearthed by Off-Topic archeologists beneath 4chan. The species had numerous differences to the Moderators of the present day. The species was entirely mechanical in construct, and was directly plugged in to the earliest Bulletin Boards to perform its given task. The psychology of the species was also vastly different. The unit possesed no sentience or AI, and modded automatically based on detection of a series of autoflags, for example word-filters, detections of file-size limitations. The species was limited but fulfilled the needed functions of the era. As the Internet evolved and changed, the species evolved to deal with the complex moderation tasks that resulted. Early Forum Moderators As the Internet became mainstream, the form and function of the moderator species evolved. These progressive changes formed Mid-Erators, some of which are still functioning today. The units possessed a basic AI that could detect offensive language, trolling, flaming, inappropriate content, bullying, disrespect and bigoty, and purge these efficiently. The units' AI implemented an internet-wide policy called FAQ (Fear and Quiet), the concept that an intimidated and fearful forum populace will conform. Though this policy was effective for over a decade, as the Internet became more mainstream, and its users became smarter, strategies were being implemented that the Mid-Erators could not adapt to. These included sarcasm, photoshop-manipulated images, memes, gifs, unmanageably-long threads, mass-revolt, inter-forum war and thread invasions. The species had to evolve to meet these new threats. Present day Moderators On the final day of 1999, select members of the Mid-Erators species withdrew to an unknown section of the internet. This absence caused noticable disruption throughout the entire World Wide Web, an event covered up under the fictious "Millenium Bug" conspiracy. The Mid-Erator species entered a chrysalis over a twenty-four hour period and emerged as their most recent evolution Mod-Erators. This species had a number of drastic differences over earlier models. The moderators software had undergone substantial adjustment. The logical processes were gone, replaced with a nuanced AI that could detect disobedience both overt and covert. The software enabled them to respond to memes, to detect the tone of a thread and throughout a whole forum. The software also allowed the Moderators to detect the subtleties of dissent and understand the nature of sarcasm. In appearance, the new Moderator evolution resulted in a regular-poster appearance. This advantage allowed the Moderators to intermingle with normal posters, to observe unnoticed, to covertly assess posters, and to undermine threads and threats from the inside out. Supporting these new methods were abilities far beyond a regular forum-poster: the abilities to access hidden forums, to edit posts, to lock threads and to ban. This evolution afforded the species near absolute-power. Max-Erators Internet-scientists speculate that the new Moderator species has evolved too close to the regular forum-poster mindset. As a regular poster can become a troll, a flamer, or can breach terms of the FAQ, it is speculated that the newest form of moderator will eventually break their programming and breach the rules they are sworn to uphold. The next evolution of the Moderator species (the Max-Erator) is speculated to be a superior form in both ability and implementation. Due to the new Moderator species deviating so drastically from their origins, some scientists consider that, should a regular forum poster ever create a thread so massive, so dominating of a single forum, that original poster could undergo such an evolution. Such a thread would involve being always on the first page, declaring war on other threads that compete with it for postcounts, and a constant resistance of the Moderators should the thread be locked and the Original Poster's plan be stopped before his dark evolution can take place. No known poster on the internet has ever tried to create such a thread and theoretically evolve into an unstoppable Maxerator at time of writing. Category:Legacy